Facing criticism over paper leaks, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning to use encrypted question papers for Class 10 and Class 12 board exam from next year.

As of now, the move is being currently tested as a pilot project in the ongoing compartmental examinations after the board had to face embarrassment following question paper leaks in March this year.

Logistical support to exam centres:

Moreover, the board is also planning to provide logistical support to examination centres which lack adequate printing and Xerox machines.

Here's what CBSE Secretary Anurag Tripathi said:

"We are testing this on pilot basis during the compartment exams where question papers are being delivered via e-mails 30 minutes ahead of the exam. The pass words are sent separately to the centre superintendent and the question papers are printed and photocopied at the centres itself," news agency PTI quoted CBSE Secretary Anurag Tripathi as saying.

"We are only going to select big schools as centres which have adequate infrastructure. Those which will be found lacking that, we will hire an agency to provide the logistical support to them. The printing cost will be borne by CBSE only. There is not going to be a major difference in the expenditure in the current process and the proposed one," Anurag Tripathi added.

Final decision on encrypted question papers:

A final decision in this regard will be taken soon after an analysis of the pilot run as well as the logistical demands.

"Another possibility we are looking at is to start at a lower scale of sending encrypted question papers where the number of students are low. It all depends now how prepared we are with the logistics," CBSE Secretary said.

Printing of Class 10, Class 12 question paper:

A centre with around 500 students will need to print 8000 pages of question papers in one subject. "The logistics needed for that is printers, internet, photocopiers, uninterrupted power supply or power backup, according to CBSE.

Further, there are 1200 KVs and 600 Navodaya Vidyalayas, which are complete with the infrastructure. CBSE needs around 4500 centres, but in this system the number of centres may decrease marginally.

"We will look for centres which have higher capacity and the necessary logistics first. This may bring down the number of centres, but we will ensure that students don't face any difficulty. Those centres which lack certain logistics, CBSE will help, including the remote centres," said Tripathi.

Cost of logistics:

Speaking on whether the logistics will need major investment and whether the board is prepared for that, the secretary said that it will be compensated by the cost required for delivering hard copies of question papers.

"We will save on the cost of transportation, bank custodian charges, packing, printing which will easily compensate the cost of logistics necessary for the delivery of the encrypted question papers," Tripathi added.

CBSE Paper Leak 2018:

This year, the board had to conduct the class 12 economics retest on April 25, nearly a month after it was leaked, triggering widespread outrage and confusion among students across India.

There were also reports of the CBSE's Class 10 mathematics paper being leaked, but the board decided against a retest of the Class 10 paper, saying the examination was "largely an internal segment" of the school education system.

Also, the paper leak and the CBSE's decision to conduct retest had affected more than 28 lakh students

Further, the HRD Ministry had also set up a committee to examine the process by which the CBSE conducts examinations. The seven-member panel, headed by former HRD secretary Vinay Sheel Oberoi, suggested measures to make the process "secure and fool-proof".

"The board is yet to take a call on recommendations made by the committee," Anurag Tripathi added.